Avengers: Time of Janus
by AmazonRozz
Summary: Avery Chay is an orphan with an attitude and Tony Stark decides to make her his ward. Her powers include being able to open up portals to other worlds, universes, and realties, and being able to communicate with technology. As she goes through her training to become a full fledged Avenger, her dark past comes into the light and Tony begins to second guess Avery's intentions.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

 ** _Who's that Girl?_**

It was a courtesy you know…Avery sitting here in this cell. She could get out whenever she wanted to. But she heard some whispers that she got her bail made and wanted to see who in the hell would pull her out. She had no family so to speak of. She had very few friends who had money their parents didn't give to them, and even fewer who could afford bail. The rest of her friends were online personalities she never met in person. So who was it?

An hour later and the guard who locked her up, knocked on her door and opened it up for her.

"Your rides here."

Avery got off her bunk and waltzed down the hall, saying her goodbyes to acquaintances she had made in her 48 hour hold. She was escorted to the main gate and as the guards slid it open a man in a nice gray suit stood up. He had shiny red cuffs on the end and wore sunglasses…inside. Avery definitely couldn't mistake that trademark goatee and sighed as she realized who her debtor was.

"You can go, tiny. She's good from here." said Mr. Stark.

The guard muttered something under his breath and then left the two alone. The bars slammed shut behind Avery and Stark offered her a sucker. She shrugged and took it.

"I assume you know why I'm here?" he asked, he motioned for her to follow him outside to his car as he popped a blue sucker in his mouth. His driver was waiting in a nice black lexus and Avery nodded to him as she got in.

"I _assume_ you found out what I did at your fancy little tech school and that's why I was in there."

"How did you hack into the systems?"

"I didn't hack into them."

"Bullshit."

"Nope. Didn't do a thing but apply."

"You're telling me, that a high school drop out, who doesn't even own a computer, managed to apply to MIT, gain a full ride Stark Scholarship, and pass every single class with straight As, without even attending?"

"Maybe I'm just that good."

"Or maybe you're after something," he showed her some images taken of her walking around _authorized personnel only sections_ , "You didn't find it?"

Avery looked out the window and saw they were driving out of town. "Where are you taking me?"

"Gonna go visit a friend of mine. He's real good at interrogations."

"Hmmm…." Avery nodded and then flexed her fingers, "Or…and this is crazy, but here me out. We don't do that, and I disappear right before your eyes."

Suddenly, Avery dropped through the bottom of the car and was gone. Tony stared at the spot for a long moment. Then he blinked and said, "Aaaalright."

* * *

 **Present Day**

 ** _One Year Later…_**

New Orleans, Louisiana

Avery walked up to an ATM and typed in 1234 into the pin pad and immediately received several dozen hundred dollar bills. She tucked them right into her pocket and walked along. Perhaps today she'd treat herself to a fancy burger, one of those where you have to sit down and use a fork to eat it. Maybe she'd get that nice, red, leather coat she had been eyeing in the store front window of Macys. Who knew what today could bring.

She took out some headphones from her pocket, plugged them into an old cell phone that didn't work, and bobbed her head to music that shouldn't have been playing. She turned her head when she noticed someone was following her. Clever. Avery turned down an alley, held up her hand, and walked through the back entrance of a coffee shop. She slipped in past a crowd in the bathroom line and once the hall was empty she opened another wall and jumped into a new store. She wasn't fond of being followed. Once she was sure no one was around, Avery held up both of her hands and opened up a wall that led to her apartment. She'd have at least fifteen minutes before Black Widow realized she wasn't anywhere on the street anymore.

"I told her you'd pop up here again."

Damn.

It was Captain America in full red, white, and blue spanx.

"Widow owes me five bucks."

Avery flexed her hands again, but nothing happened.

"The hell?"

"Oh yeah…" he took out a little black metal band and waved it, "Stark said you left some residue or something of the like in his car, so he manipulated it and made this. Stops you from doing your Houdini act."

Avery nodded, "Clever."

"We gonna do this the hard way?"

"It's my only option really."

"If you see it that way, doll."

"That's a little sexist, Cap."

"Oh, sorry—"

She ran at him and punched him in the throat before he realized what had happened. He did manage to slip the bracelet on her but she slipped out of his grasp and run into the hall. And there was Widow! Damn.

Avery opened her neighbors door, gave a quick hello, and then jumped out of their window down the fire escape. An arrow flew past her head and a net exploded above her.

"The entire team, Stark?! Really?!"

Avery jumped down to the street below and made off at a run. She started to fiddle with the bracelet Stark made for her. If it hadn't been an annoyance she would have enjoyed the thought he put into it. After some meddling, she finally got the bracelet to pop off. Once she dropped it and got far enough away, she made her portal. She had a safe house in Seattle, there was no way he could track her there.

Avery jumped through the portal and landed on her couch. She sighed, finally away from everything…until she heard the thunder outside.

"Damn him to hell…"

The bay windows to her apartment blew open and in came the God of Thunder himself. Stark walked out of the kitchen and into her living room with a cup of coffee in his hands.

"Nice place you got here."

"How many backup plans did you have?" she asked, remaining on the couch.

"Just the two. I had an inkling you'd get the upper hand on Cap, so I figured, the big boys and I would stay here."

"Boys?"

"Hi…"

Banner walked out from behind Tony and he too had a cup of coffee in his hand. "Hope you don't mind…"

"You literally thought it would take these two power houses to take me down? Look at me. I'm 5'9 and 175lbs. Those two together are at least a ton!"

"I didn't know what you had up your sleeve. You'd be surprised the people we come across." said Stark.

"Oh, no surprise. Like you guys basically blow up the planet every two years. It's like Christmas when all of you are together…except the opposite of exciting and filled with hope. It's like dread and terror."

"You gonna come with us or not? Because honestly, it's gloomy here. I'd rather not."

"You got another thing to stop my powers?" He nodded, "Ugh, fine. Whatever."

* * *

Avengers Tower

Avery sat on a table with wires hooked up to her and Banner was running all over his lab getting readings from her. After some time, some big guy with a cape and goatee walked through the automatic glass doors and waved his hand over Avery. Every inch of her tingled while he did this and when he stopped he looked over at Stark who was eating an apple.

"And?"

"She's human if that's what your asking." Said Goatee guy.

"I'm sorry…I'm interrupting here but—did you just violate me?"

"I scanned you on a molecular level."

"That's not creepy at all, who are you?"

"Forgive me, I'm Doctor Vincent Strange."

"Your name is Strange?"

"That's literally what I said when we first." laughed Stark.

"Would you like the rest of my analysis or can I go?" Tony rolled his eyes and then pulled up a chair, "Well, she's no practitioner of magic. Her abilities are…unique. Energy doesn't move around her as it does a normal person."

"Well I could have told you that," said Avery as she pushed Doctor Strange's hands away from her. "I can open up doors to other places. Usually places I've already been or seen. If I have a location then I'll be able to focus better. But sometimes…" she trailed off then took a deep breath, "Sometimes I have ways with technology," she now looked at Stark, "I didn't hack into your little computer system. It let me in. I don't know how else to explain it. Technology just…likes me. It does whatever I want."

"How long have you had these powers?" Asked Banner. He started taking the wires off of her.

"Since I was a kid." Avery said, "My sister and I thought we were just really good at playing pretend."

"Sister?" asked Stark, "She got the same stuff as you?"

"Not anymore…" Avery hopped off the table and straightened her clothes, "Look, this is all very interesting, but…can I go? Or at least have a shower? It's been a long twenty four hours."

* * *

Of course, Avery was being watched. Stark had surveillance everywhere but the actual shower. As she walked into her bedroom she dropped the towel and flipped a nice finger to the security camera.

"That's classy…" Tony said as he shut off the camera. He swiveled around to Strange and Banner, "What do we do?"

"Us? We?" asked Banner, "I say we let her go. It's not like she's doing anybody any harm."

"She warped her way into MIT."

"Aside from hurting your pride, Stark," said Strange, "I agree with Doctor Banner. She's harmless."

"Why was she at MIT?" Tony asked, ignoring the other two. "Friday!"

A blue orb appeared beside Tony, "Yes, Boss?"

"Can you look into what Miss…what was her name?" He looked at Strange.

"Never got it." Said Strange.

"Balls…Friday, what's her name?"

"Her name is Avery Chay, Boss."

"Avery…" said Tony, making sure to remember it, "What Miss Chay was looking into at MIT?"

Friday scanned her databases for a brief moment, "I'm afraid I can't tell you that, Boss. It appears there's no record of her ever attending the school."

"She wiped it." Tony said, he smiled. This was all like a puzzle to him. A really, really, fun puzzle. "How did a street wise, orphan, hack into MIT and wipe any record of her even being there?"

Strange shrugged but watched the cameras as Avery tried to find a way out. She flicked her wrists but nothing was happening. "You know this won't keep her locked in there for long."

"I'm sure it'll do just fine—"

"She's gone."

"What?"

Tony swiveled back to the cameras and saw that Strange was right. The footage was playing on a loop.

"How does she do it?" asked Bruce who smiled but lost it when Tony glared at him.

"Widow…" said Tony into his watch, "Our guest is loose."

"Got it."

* * *

Avery wandered through the halls of the Avengers tower and checked every room she came across. Library, kitchen, research center, pool room…another kitchen. She kept walking along and then once again felt the presence of a shadow following her.

"Want the grand tour?" asked Widow as she caught up with her.

"Sure. I figure I'll have to stay here a while so why not?"

"Who says you have to stay?" Widow asked with a smirk.

Avery rolled her eyes, "Stark's been after me for years and he sends his entire team to catch **me** …someone who can't even throw a good punch. Yeah, I can leave, but you'll be hot on my trail."

"I'm not so sure about that punch. I mean you cave Cap a good one before you took off."

Avery chuckled, "You grow up on the streets you learn to fight dirty."

"An orphan huh?" Widow asked, "Welcome to the club."

"That seems to be a big superhero thing isn't it? Tragic orphan Annie grows up on her own and decides to fight back…" Avery smirked, "Doesn't fit my bill. As soon you all finish up the experiments you wanna run on me, I'm outta here. Maybe I'll finally go to Hawaii."

The arrived to a lounge where Thor, Cap, and Hawkeye were relaxing. Cap, or Steve, since he wasn't in uniform, approached Avery with his hand out. "Nice to formally meet you."

She shook his hand and saw the bruise on his throat, "Sorry about that."

He shrugged, "I've had worse."

Avery tapped on his pecs and raised an eyebrow out of curiosity, "Thought you were made out metal or something. Couldn't get hurt."

"We've all got our Achille's Heels," Clint said. He poured a drink and then walked it over to Avery, "I could have hit you if I wanted to, by the way." She reached for the drink and he raised it out of her reach, "You're of drinking age aren't you?"

"I'm twenty-seven," Avery said and then took the drink from him. She shook his hand though, she liked this guy.

"It is good to receive a fellow warrior!" Thor walked over and pulled Avery into a very big, very tight, hug. "Welcome to the Avengers Tower, young maiden."

"Oh I like this one…" Avery said to Widow—Natasha. She joined everyone else on the large, overly expensive, but incredibly soft couch that leveled into the floor. "So now that introductions are out of the way, what did the good ol'Boss man tell you about me?"

"Well in typical Tony Stark fashion…" Started Steve, "He said you were a rebel without a cause, and that made you highly dangerous."

Avery laughed, "Dangerous? Do you even know what I can do?" she asked, the others shook their heads no. "Ok," Avery motioned for Thor to hand her the tablet beside him. Once in hand, she shut her eyes for a few seconds and then opened them again. Her eyes were a deep blue and as she smiled at them, all the electronics in the room began to react to her presence. "I've got a special connection to technology. It does what I want. Whatever I want it to. I mean I guess that could be dangerous if I ever established a connection to the White House or Government files and whatever. But I don't intend to blow up the world and or start World War Three. I live here. Rather it stay in one piece."

Everything went back to normal and she set the tablet down. "Stark needs to work on his security, he should not have everything hooked up to the same network. That's just dumb."

"Noted." Came Tony's voice as he, Bruce, and Strange rounded the corner. "Really cool how you do that…thingy."

"So she can hack into computers and make portals. Sounds like a high level security threat, Stark…" Steve said, as sarcastically as he could.

"I like being cautious." said Tony, he plopped down next to Avery and eyed her, "You're cleared. Feel free to leave whenever…but!" He raised a finger and pointed it at her, "I think you could be a real help to us."

Avery was not intrigued by his notion, "I'm nowhere near physical peek condition to fight aliens and robots like you all do…"

"Don't mean fighting," Tony said as he stood up and went to pour himself a drink, "We could use someone like you. Finding our targets would be easier, covert operations would go smoother—oh and Strange had a crush on your little portal powers and wants to meditate or some shit like that, with you. Gross."

Strange glared at Tony but then turned his attention to Avery, "I think I have an idea where the source of your power could be coming from. We could focus on it…discover it together."

"Horrible first date idea…"

"Stark…" Strange honestly had to use all of his patience around the man, "Whether your abilities take you to different realities or other worlds…I believe we can make them stronger and reach out to anywhere in the known universe."

 _Anywhere_ …Avery liked the sound of that.

"I want a top floor room."

"No." said Tony.

"Why?"

"Saved for actual Avengers, trainee."

"Trainee?" she looked around the room at the other _official_ Avengers and they nodded, confirming their approval. She sighed and then began to weigh the pros and cons. "What are the perks?"

Tony smirked, he liked her already, "Well aside from gaining international fame for saving the world when it needs it?"

Avery shrugged, "Yeah…like…what else?"

"State of the art equipment at your disposal…" Banner said, "If you know anything about science."

"I broke into MIT, I at least have an interest in it."

Steve smiled and patted her on the shoulder, "I think we've got a good ally here."


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2_**

 ** _Months of obnoxious training later_**

Avery dodged all the incoming attacks and opened portal after portal to avoid them. Stark's computer system was intense. It studied her moves and adapted, calculating when and where she would go. Her goal was to reach the computer at the end of the room and shut the program down, unfortunately Avery wasn't athletic and each time she got hit in the chest and sent back against the wall, she felt the urge to break everything.

"Ok that's enough…"

The lights went out and the simulated evil lair disappeared. Avery sat on her knees and caught her breath. Tony's face appeared on the screen that floated above her.

"You're sucking…like really bad, today."

Avery grabbed her hair out of frustration and looked up at Tony, "I'm not feeling it today."

"Come on out."

The door slid up and she limped up the stairs to the control booth.

"What's going on kid?" Tony asked as he swiveled around in his chair.

"I'm not on my game today, Boss." He tossed her a bottle of water and she slumped down on the floor. "My head's busy. I can't focus."

Tony waited for her to go on, but that it seemed she didn't feel the need to. Avery had been adapting to Avenger life pretty well. She sat sideline on missions and delivered reports about what she thought could have been improved upon. Her portals came in handy when she needed to get someone out of hot water and that hacking thing she had was very, very, convenient. Her birthday was drawing closer and she'd be 27. Not an age she should worry about, though if Tony was right, her being sloppy might have to do with it.

"Go meditate with, Strange." He said and then swiveled back to his computer. As soon as the door slid shut, he got on the comm, "Yo, Doc, sending Chay, your way."

"Good. Her aura's been off lately. She needs recalibrating." Stephen replied.

This interested Tony, "What do you mean?"

"I wouldn't put it past you to miss strange occurrences. You haven't noticed the small objects appearing and disappearing around you? It's been happening all over the tower."

Tony looked to his left and saw that his pens were gone, "Ok well _now_ that you mention it…"

"She needs to clarify her mind. It's driving me insane, I can't find my medallion and I know where it's always sitting. Everyone's missing something."

"Friday. Scan all the rooms for the Docs precious little medal."

"It's not a—"

"Bored!"

Tony cut the feed and then opened up the security cameras. He watched Avery sulk down the halls. He needed to do more research on her.

* * *

"Clear your mind, Avery."

"Easier said than done."

"Avery…"

She sighed and then shut her eyes. She focused on the universe, the feeling of electricity and atoms around her. She thought about her body becoming lighter. That it would be nice to fly…Margo wanted to fly. Wanted to be an astronaut. To touch the stars.

"AVERY!"

She opened her eyes and looked around.

"Did you know you could fly?"

She was nearly touching the ceiling and began to panic, "How do I get down?!"

"Concentrate." Stephan closed his eyes and shared the image with Tony, " _Stark, are you seeing this?_ " He thought. " _Absolutely…did she know she could do that?"_ Tony responded. Stephan looked back up at her as Avery slowly descended, " _Something in her has awakened."_

"What the hell?" Avery was finally on the ground and she walked over to Stephen, "What was that?"

"You tell me," said Stephan, "Your powers are expanding."

"I've never been able to do that before." She ruffled her hair and tried to comprehend what just happened. "What do you mean expanding?"

"Whatever connection you have to the universe or whatever binds you to your magic."

She rolled her eyes, "Magic? Really?"

"Whatever you believe in, Miss Chay."

She was going to keep arguing but something in her made her stop and think. "I don't know why I have these abilities, Doc. To be perfectly honest with you…I was adopted. Had a good life until...well...until things got real bad. All I could do was scrape by on the streets. I got really good at stealing because of the portals. I don't know the limit of my powers. I don't know who I got them from or who gave them to me…I'd like to find out."

Stephen nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'll do whatever is in my power to help you, Miss Chay. But you'll have to be honest with me first." She met his soul searching, brown eyes. "What happened to your sister?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

There's not much to say…

She just disappeared.

I remember that day in absolute vivid detail. I mean, how could I not? It was all my fault. We were just kids who thought we had the coolest magic trick in the book…

* * *

"Avery get up!"

"Go away."

"Avery."

"It's Saturday."

"Actually it's Sunday."

An eighteen year old Avery shot up in bed and looked at her ten year old sister who was grinning from ear to ear. She swiveled her legs out of bed and stretched. Her hair poofed out in all directions and she gave it a quick shake to energize herself.

"Why didn't you say so sooner, kiddo?"

Margo followed after her sister into the bathroom and pulled up her stool to brush her teeth with her. "You're so lazy. Are all teenagers lazy?"

Avery gargled and then spit into the sink, "Yes," she said. "You'll feel it in five years."

"High school sounds boring."

"It is."

The sisters Chay got dressed and then headed downstairs to see their parents were gone already. It was a custom of Mister and Misses Chay to go to church bright and early on the weekends. Not just Sunday, oh no, they went on Saturday and on the late night Friday sermon as well. Avery wasn't particularly fond of the idea of an ever watching, omni present, judge constantly marking her down for every sinful thought or action. Instead she chose to believe that every action had a reaction, and depending on how strong that action was, you'd get an equal or greater result. Today, would be one of those actions.

Margo waited at the dining table as Avery whipped up her special omelette for her—which was nothing more than eggs, pepper, bacon, and cheese, with hot sauce mixed in. Avery hated eggs, or maybe she was allergic…no she was sure she just hated them. Couldn't stand the taste or the texture. Instead she'd be enjoying frozen waffles and bacon with a hot glass of cocoa. It was a cold day today, and Washington State weather was often unpredictable in the summer.

"What do you wanna do this summer?" Avery asked, placing her sisters plate down and then joining her.

"I think I'll finally go to camp with Maggie and Joy this year." Margo said, "They said last year they got to go into rocket simulators."

Avery rolled her eyes, "Nerds…"

"Are you finally going to get a job? Mom's been asking you for years."

"Um, excuse me! I'm busying studying for college. I don't have time to work."

"Community college. And you just don't want to miss any time with your girlfriend before she moves away!" Margo stuck her tongue out and avoided the piece of waffle Avery threw at her.

"Mind your business you little brat…"

Margo smiled, "Let's go on an adventure today."

Avery could feel the electricity in the air. Her fingers were tingling and even the hair on the back of her neck started to rise. Margo was waiting patiently on her reply and finally Avery smiled and Margo cheered.

Minutes later the two were zipping up their hoodies and off to the woods. They had a secret place they went to and made sure their parents never knew where they went off to. At first, Avery used to think she just had an amazing imagination and that she would grow out of these adventures. That maybe one day she'd wake up and the things she could do would stop. But they never did. Sometimes Avery could shut her eyes and wish to be somewhere else and when she opened her eyes again, she was exactly where she wanted to be. And when Margo turned five, she and Avery were playing hide and seek, when Margo suddenly disappeared. She appeared a few hours later with a wild yellow plant in her hand and told Avery about her adventure on a blue planet. It was then, that the sisters began to experiment with their powers.

On a night when their parents went out for dinner, Avery and Margo went out to the woods and held hands while they concentrated on where they wanted to go. When they opened their eyes, a circular portal opened before them and through it…they could see the universe. Stars and planets, meteors and suns. There was more than they could count and so many lights. Avery stuck her hand through the portal and pulled it back…there was frost on her hand.

The next time they tried this combined focus, they thought about one of the planets and the portal opened up a window to a frozen wasteland. Margo jumped through it before Avery could pull her back and so she went after her. Avery fell several feet to the ground and saw that Margo stood in place and shivered. Avery had hurt her ankle but she still limped toward her sister and hugged her and in the blink of an eye, they were back in the woods behind their house.

Years of practice later, Avery and Margo were an unstoppable team. They had a notebook of all the places they had visited and were prepped with the right equipment and clothes. Their adventure wouldn't take them far. Not today's at least. Their parents would be home in an hour or so.

"Quick run today. That's all." Avery said as she stretched next to a tree. Margo nodded and jogged in place.

"Let's go somewhere new today."

"Nope, we only have an hour. In and out."

Margo sighed but didn't put up a fight.

They held hands and closed their eyes. After a while the looked up and saw a dessert planet in front of them. Avery groaned and shook her head, "You had to pick a hot place?" she started to remove her sweater and tie it around her waist.

"You picked the last one. Beside's, we know this trail!" Said Margo. She jumped through the portal and Avery went after.

The heat was unbearable and yet somehow Avery kept up with Margo as they took their jog through the desert. What Avery loved the most about this world was the very little gravity it had. She could jump ten feet in the air with a skip and crash down with little to no pain at all. She and Margo often had competitions. They hadn't explored much of this world. It wasn't like they could pack a car with them and drive for miles. They'd barely gone six miles on foot before they had to turn back and go into a portal home. Today had to be short. No more than an hour or less.

"Margo slow down!" Avery called.

Her sister was already yards ahead of her and Avery had to sprint to catch up. Once she did, she pulled Margo's arm and forced her to stop. Avery bent over to catch her breath and Margo tapped her foot impatiently.

"I'm not fit like you," Avery said between breaths.

"It's because your fat."

Avery reached out to grab Margo but her sister skipped back a few feet and started laughing, "Mom says you need to hit the gym more."

"God you can be such a little bitch sometimes…" Avery muttered under her breath.

"I'm telling Mom, you swore!"

"What?! No!"

Margo started running back the way they came and Avery—yet again—gave chase. She actually started gaining speed as they ran down hill but before Avery could grab Margo, the ground quaked. The sisters stopped in their tracks.

"What was that?" Margo asked.

Another quake. This time something vibrated deep into their bones.

"Nothing's supposed to live here…" said Avery, "Not this far out…"

The sand began to flow like a stream past the two girls. The dune they had been standing on was rising higher and higher. Avery pushed Margo and without a word the two ran. Avery raised her hands and tried to make a portal but each time one was created, the vibrations distorted the door and it disappeared.

"AVERY!"

Margo had tripped as another dune began to rise and carried her away. Avery made a portal and reached in to grab her sister. Margo jumped up and grabbed her hand but before Avery could pull her through and over to her—the portal was cut off.

A mighty roar erupted from the sand beneath her feet and Avery tumbled back. The portal closed and Margo lost half of her arm. The blood hit Avery in her eyes and she screamed as she held onto her sisters limp hand. She could hear Margo's cries of pain from across the desert as the beast that came forth slithered out from it's underground chamber. With a whip of it's tail, Margo was sent flying off further into the desert. It's giant red eyes spotted Avery and it released a screech that made her ears bleed.

It lunged.

Avery cried.

* * *

"Avery!"

She was in the mud. Surrounded by the police. Margo's arm still in her grasp. A trail of blood leading off into the woods. Her adoptive mother sat on the wet ground, yelling over the rain, trying to get Avery to tell her what happened.

"WHERE'S MARGO!?"

"It took her…" Avery whispered.

"Who took her?!"

Her eyes stung but it was raining so hard she couldn't tell if she had managed tears. "She's gone…it's my fault. I could have held onto her longer…" Avery broke down and began to scream. "I HAVE TO GET HER BACK! I HAVE TO FIND HER!" A news crew ran over and began to ask her questions but her mother waved them away and the police threw a blanket over Avery and escorted her out of the area. They had to force her to loosen the grip on Margo's arm. They had to take it…

* * *

Stephen set down the glass of tea he had been drinking and solemnly shut his eyes.

"Spent about two years in a psych ward…" Avery went on, she hadn't looked at him once while telling her story, "They made me believe I had imagined it all as a way to cover up my sisters murder. I had been so traumatized that I had made up this world and the alien that I saw." Her eyes were tired, she had thought about this a lot. Maybe even wondered if this reality was as it seemed. "I can't for life of me remember where that place is. Is she alive? Dead? Last week was her eighteenth birthday, you know. I spent the entire day rummaging through every desert I could think of. This world, other worlds…anywhere and everywhere. So if I seem a little distracted—a little distant—it's because I'm over here trying to get over nearly a decade of guilt."

"It wasn't—"

"My fault," Avery rolled her eyes, "I've heard that before. I ran over every single possibility. We had been there nearly a dozen times. Never once saw any signs of life. I could have pulled her through faster. I could have ran to her, maybe. I could have gone through the portal. I could have held onto her hand while we ran instead of pushing her down the hill. But no matter how many times I think of other ways I could have saved her, none of them help the fact that I abandoned my sister and can't find her."

She stood up from his table and pushed his chair back in.

"I don't think you can help me Doc. But if you think of something, let me know. And uh…just one favor. Please don't tell the others. I don't need them worrying about me and then freaking out or something."

Stephan nodded and Avery left.

Tony's face appeared on the holo-comm, and he seemed disturbed by the news. He shook his head, shrugged and said, "Well shit…"


	4. Chapter 4

**A Day Off**

 _"There's nothing wrong, sweet heart. We just need you to keep taking your pills."_

 _"I don't like them, they make me…feel numb."_

 _"They're supposed to do that…it won't last long, sweetie. Trust me."_

Avery tried to shake the memories from her mind. She was hitting the treadmill at top speed and nearly slipping each time. Her legs were aching, her chest was burning, she was dripping with sweat. And still all she could see were flashes of the worst parts of the last ten years. The pills, the therapy, her parents divorce, the looks…God the looks.

"You're a ball of sunshine today…"

The treadmill started slowing down and Avery looked up to see that Natasha was standing in front of her, holding the emergency stop in her hand.

"Bad stuff…" Avery huffed, now finally able to catch her breath. She was dizzy and took a seat on the floor.

Natasha nodded and then thought for a moment. She studied Avery. The girl didn't have much of a public record but Stark informed the others about her past. It sucked. But they'd all been through something similar.

"You wanna get out of the tower?"

"Jesus Christ, yes." Avery jumped to her feet, "I can go shower and get ready in twenty."

Natasha stepped aside and let Avery leave the gym. She was glad to see a smile on the girl's face.

* * *

Exactly twenty minutes later, Avery came skipping down the stairs in sweatpants, a crop top, and a hoodie. Her hair was curly and wild and she looked like she was headed to a dance studio. Natasha was in a simple jeans, shirt, and leather jacket.

"Is that blending in?" Natasha asked.

"For everyone my age…yes. If you don't look comfy, they're gonna stare."

"That means I'll stick out like a sore thumb then?"

Both turned to see Steve finishing up buttoning his shirt. He was wearing khaki pants, penny loafers, and looked like he was still stuck in the 50s.

"You're coming with us?" Avery asked.

He nodded, "I like to step out amongst normal people once and a while."

"You look like Captain America," Avery said. For the love of God at least unbutton the shirt. Don't tuck it in. And mess up your hair."

Steve looked over at Natasha who smirked and shrugged, "The girl knows the crowd, Cap."

As if a gun were to his head, Steve uncomfortably began to unbutton his shirt and Avery walked over, stood on her toes, and ruffled his hair. "You'll need shades."

* * *

It felt good to finally get some fresh air and there was a noticeable difference in how Avery held herself as she casually perused the New York streets. Her hands were tucked into her pockets, her head was just slightly tilted and she let her feet drag beneath her. Much like all the other young adults her age. Natasha was curious about this sudden shift in character. She seemed exceptionally talented at fitting in where ever she was.

"This is nice," Avery said as they waited for the light to change. "Like when you guys aren't blowing things up here, it's nice."

"Us?" Steve asked.

Avery gave him her strongest _really?_ look.

"Doesn't Stark have a place in Malibu? Why isn't there a tower in Cali? Why does everything happen here? What's the deal with New York?"

"It's the heart of America." Steve said proudly.

"But not the World." Avery went on. "Top cities are London, Hong Kong, New York, Tokyo, and Cairo. Why don't we have bases there?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow, "We?"

Avery caught herself, "You guys. Why aren't you out there finding more people with abilities and keeping them in really important places? I mean how long does it take you to get from A to B? You'd save a lot of time and people."

"Someone's thinking like a hero." Said Steve with a big grin.

"Gross," Avery started walking across the street and the other two followed, "I'm not a hero. I don't do the saving thing."

Steve jogged a bit to catch up with her, "But you could be."

They turned down a less busy side street where vendors were selling homemade jewelry and food in mason jars.

"I don't know what a bunch of rag-tag, super powered, orphans could possibly do that would allow them to call themselves heroes." Avery turned around and faced Steve and Natasha. "Have you taken a second to look around at all the damage you've done? The people you've hurt? It's like you can't take a fight away from a population. You're doing what _you_ think is right. You don't give anyone else a choice and you say it's because you're the only ones that can stop the threat—"

Steve tried to interrupt, "We are—"

"No," said Avery, "You say you are. You were the heroes during the first incident. Then you trashed another country. Didn't even offer aid. Just left them on their own. Then you guys went rogue. You can't even keep yourselves together as a unit." Before Natasha could say anything, Avery went on, "I read the news — and blogs. There's never been such a massive split in how the world feels about one thing, since the last presidential election. And you want me to join your team?"

Natasha nodded her head in agreement. What Avery said wasn't wrong. Steve however was red in the cheeks and tried to find the right words to say.

"At least we're doing something," he finally spit out. "There are things out there that citizens can't fight. We've been up close and personal with them. If we left it to everyone to decide what to do, half this world would be gone."

"Ninety-nine percent of the time, they'd call you," Avery said with a shrug, "That's how you win people over. You give them a choice…much like how it's my choice to make a diversion."

She snatched Steve's shades off and started screaming excitedly, "OH MY GOD IT'S CAPTAIN AMERICA!"

Immediately a horde of New Yorker's came flooding down the alley way and Steve and Natasha were surrounded. Avery was gone instantaneously, and Natasha smirked. She really liked this girl.

* * *

Avery appeared somewhere in Manhatten and decided this was far enough to give her alone time before Natasha tracked her down. She passed the Daily Bugle and nearly bumped into a high schooler with an oversized backpack. The kid looked like he'd fall over in an instant.

"Sorry!" he yelled over his shoulder, "Late for school!"

He was probably sixteen…a little younger than Margo would've been. Damn. She wished Tony hadn't tracked her down. She was doing fine on her own. No one knew a thing about her. Now, everything seemed to be off. Nothing was right anymore. It was like the road suddenly took a sharp turn and she wasn't prepared for it —

Sirens.

Four fire trucks went skidding down the road and a crowd went running toward the end of the street. Avery was forced to go with them and that's when she saw it. The smoke rising into the air. It was a school. Of course it was a school. Because why not? Now she had to decide if she were going to act or wait for the rest of the Avengers to act.

She waited.

It's fine. The fire department was there.

She waited.

A window blew out!

Shit.

Avery pushed through the crowd and tried to find a way passed the police tape. She saw a classroom that was filled with smoke and once she saw it, she concentrated on the space, and opened up a portal.

She was in. Avery regretted this almost instantly. She covered her nose and tried to move out into the hall. She could hear kids screaming. She opened a portal behind her to the street and the smoke started filtering out. She kept opening a portal behind her to get rid most of the smoke. The ceiling above her was cracking. The fire started upstairs.

BANG BANG BANG!

There! The door at the end of the hall. Avery ran to it and saw the kids inside screaming. The fire has gotten into the classroom. She opened a portal through the door and the kids all ran out into the hall.

"Keep your heads down!" Avery yelled at them. She created a portal for them to run through into the streets. Once the kids were through, Avery ran after them but just as she was about to exit she heard one more voice call out. "Of course it's another kid!" She closed the portal and ran.

The ceiling caved and Avery dodged out of the way. She hit the ground hard and heard a pop in her shoulder. She bit her lip but fought through the pain and kept going. There was a staircase but it was covered in debris and rubble. Whoever this kid was, was stuck upstairs. There was no way for Avery to get there. She hadn't tested her ability like that before. If she couldn't see or know where she was going…she'd end up anywhere. With the fire raging the power was out, which meant she couldn't even try and re-route any electrical damages.

Shit.

Gas.

Another explosion was eminent. Avery could only make one of two choices.

1, fight her way through this physical barrier and hope to make it to the kid in time

or

2, make a portal and save herself

The kid kept calling out for help and Avery battled with herself for the first time in years. She never got involved. This wasn't her thing. Why did she even run in? This was the kind of stuff she watched on the news.

"Hey!"

Avery looked over her shoulder and through the smoke she could see that Spider-kid who was popping up all over the place. Why was New York the center of Superheroes?

"We have to get you out of here!" he called.

"There's a kid stuck upstairs. We're not leaving without them!" shouted Avery.

Spidey nodded and then began to pull at the debris. He was strong that was for sure. Just as he moved a beam, more of the ceiling came down and he held his hands up, waiting for the impact when he heard a crash down the hall. Spidey opened his eyes and saw that Avery had made a portal above his head. The rubble fell through it and ended up on the other side of the hall.

"You can—"

"Not now, Spider-nerd!" Avery pushed him back to digging out the staircase and once there was a hole big enough for the two of them they went through and up to the second floor.

There was a young girl cowering in a corner trying to avoid the flames and smoke. Avery ran over to her and checked her out for injuries.

"We're getting you out of here, kid!"

"Who are you?" she asked Avery.

Avery smirked, "An idiot who tries to help people."

"This way!" called Spidey.

Before Avery could shout at him to not open the window, it was too late.

* * *

From outside, everyone gasped as the entire upper floor exploded. Glass and bits of the classrooms showered down into the streets above. The firemen were trying their best to put out the flames. The few kids who had been rescued where staring at the building, holding their breath, hoping their mysterious hero would be crawling out any minute.

But nothing…

"Look!"

Everyone turned to see their classmate running to them. They embraced her and asked her what happened and if everything was ok. She told them about her hero and what she did! How she saved her and Spider-man by opening up a magic portal and pushing her to safety outside somehow.

News of this mysterious savior started spreading through the crowd and a news crew got a hold of it.

"This just in! It looks like the city of New York has a brand new hero, and she has a few tricks up her sleeves!"

* * *

Avery sat on the edge of a building with Spidey beside her and glared at her screen as an image of her appeared. Well, it wasn't an image, but an artist's rendition of what she looked like.

"A mask…I was wearing normal clothes — ugh! Look they gave me a cape!"

Spidey whipped off his mask, revealing he was the young kid Avery had ran into earlier. "Hi! Nice to meet you, I'm Peter—" Avery slapped him in the back of the head, "Ow!"

"Are you an idiot? You have a secret identity, you can't go running around shaking hands with every person who helps you out." Avery snapped at him.

"Well you seem to have one too so…" Peter shrugged and smiled at Avery. "You've got cool powers."

"I mean cool if we're comparing them to yours, Spider-boy."

"Spider-MAN."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

Avery nearly gagged, "God you're a kid."

"How old are you?" Peter asked.

"Older than you."

The familiar sound of jets cooling down alerted Avery to Tony's presence. She rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder at Tony, and the Doc who just walked through a portal.

"Oh joy, the Dads are here." Avery stood up and so did Peter.

"Hi, Mr. Stark!" Peter grinned at him and Avery looked from Peter to Tony and then to the Doc.

"Peter I want to introduce you to your new babysitter," Tony said with a smirk.


	5. Chapter 5

**A Sign…**

It was raining. Not a typical rain. A heavy fall that came down in sheets. She liked this weather. It made it harder for anyone to track them. She watched Natasha two buildings down. Her scope was focused on the ex-soviet assassin as she worked out in the Stark Tower gym. She'd been waiting ten years for this. Keeping track of Natasha through the news and through all her known alias'.

Just a few more weeks of preparation and revenge would be hers.

"The Iron Maiden?"

"No."

"The Iron Sorceress?"

"No."

"The Iron…"

"Why are all of your stupid hero names starting with Iron?"

Peter looked up from his list over to Avery and grinned, "Well because Tony said he's the one who started training you—"

"The Doc is training me, Tony just gives me busy work." Said Avery as she finished making her sandwich, "Besides, how would you like it if people started calling you The Iron Spider?"

Peter's eyes grew wide, "Oh man that's so cool! I should've thought of that."

Had Avery an extra set of hands she'd have face palmed herself hard. This kid was too impressionable. After every conversation, Avery found it more difficult to believe that Peter wasn't Tony's son.

"What about…The Sorceress?" Peter asked after crossing a few names off, "It's simple."

"We already have a witch on the team," Avery said, and she nodded to Wanda who entered and smiled at them.

"More names, Petrov?" she asked.

Peter grinned, "Code names are good. They help us."

"Only if you have a secret to hide." Said Avery. She finished her sandwich and then walked over to the bench where Peter was sitting and made him scoot over. "I'm an open book."

"We'll keep working on these tonight." said Peter, "I have to head home or else Aunt May will be pretty peeved."

"That's adorable that you have a bed time." Avery said.

Peter glared at her and she laughed, "I don't need you back here tonight. Stay home. I can entertain myself."

"No you can't…" Just then Tony entered the kitchen and took what was left of Avery's sandwich. "We gotta mission tonight and guess who's holding the fort down?"

Avery groaned, "Seriously? I have to babysit?"

Tony shook his head, "Nope. He's babysitting you!"

* * *

Later that night, Peter and Avery sat on the couch watching an old horror movie. Peter knew every single fact about the behind the scenes and it was driving her crazy. At one point they ran out of popcorn and Avery convinced Peter to just describe the movie to her while she ran to the kitchen.

Avery put a new bag of popcorn in the microwave and decided to wait in the kitchen rather than go back and sit with Peter. He was a good kid, don't get her wrong, but there was something that she needed to get done tonight. The kid was so into the movie maybe he wouldn't notice she was gone.

When the popcorn was finished, Avery used what little skill she learned from Stephan, to float the bowl into the TV room. Peter started eating from it and talking like she was in the room. Since he was taken care of, Avery made her way to the top of the tower…Tony's workshop.

"Miss Chay. You're not allowed up here without the Boss." Said Friday as Avery pushed the buttons to go up. The elevator halted and Avery sighed. She pressed her hand against the control panel and suddenly the elevator started going up.

"Sorry Friday…" said Avery, her hand glowed a dim blue as electricity passed through her skin, "No secret messages to Tony either. Just sleep for the night."

"Miss—"

The lights flickered and then Friday was gone.

When the doors opened, Avery made a b-line straight for the center of the workshop. She knew exactly what she needed. She'd been watching Tony for a few weeks while he and Stephan tracked her vitals. They decided that her abilities were from an extreme sensitivity to electrical currents in the air. It was how, they assumed, she could create portals to other places. She could create the same molecules that those places were made of and open up a passage way from where she was to there. It was why she could control electronic devices. Avery didn't care for the science behind it. She only cared about expanding the distance she could reach. She could levitate. She could move items. But none of this training was helping her get closer to her sister.

She figured she had maybe an hour before Tony realized something was off. Avery wasn't dumb, she knew Friday sent hourly messages to Tony so it was only a matter of time before he next one was due. That gave her one hour to fire up the machine and get as far she could out into the galaxy.

Tony had created two arc pylons to shock Avery at varying levels. The more electricity she took, the more powerful she became. She touched the control panel to the arcs and then stood in the center of them. Within moments she could feel the electricity pumping through her and she held up her hands and called forth a portal. It was of a mountain. But a mountain on Earth. Not what she needed.

Avery touched the arc and made the levels increase. The shock was a bit more intense but she could take it. She flicked her hand again and the portal changed. She could see the stars. Planets. Good, she needed to further. She raised the levels again. This shock was painful but Avery fought through the pain and kept opening portal after portal. She didn't know how much time had passed but she did know that her skin was starting to burn. There was a glow emitting from her and she was numb to the pain. Still she'd go on.

"Avery!"

She looked out the corner of her eye to see Peter crawling toward her. He'd gone up through the elevator shaft.

"You have to turn it off, it's killing you!" He yelled. He shot a web at the arcs but Avery raised a metal table with her mind and threw it at Peter. She pinned him to the wall.

"Not…done…" she struggled to say.

The machine had reached it's max voltage and now sparks were flying all over the workshop. The ceiling opened up and in came Tony and Stephan. Avery cried out in pain as her skin began to crack from the heat and power rushing through her. Dozens of portals began to open up around the room.

"Shut it down, kid!" Tony warned her but it was like Avery couldn't hear him anymore. Her eyes had turned black and her pupils were glowing a dangerous red. He tried to shoot the machine but his blast only made the power surge and hurt Avery all the more.

Stephan landed on the ground and tried to find another route, "We can't turn off the machine. We have to separate her from it!"

Tony nodded and then ran for Avery. Just before he tackled her, all the portals closed except for the one right in front of her.

Avery's eyes widened in surprise. There, on the other side of the portal, was a teenage girl who looked exactly like Avery. She had long curly brown hair that was wild and untamable and big hazel eyes and skin like dark caramel.

"Avery?" asked the young woman.

Tears began to well in Avery's eyes, "Margo…" she whispered.

Just as the sisters reached for each other—

The portal shut and Avery hit the ground.

* * *

"What the HELL were you thinking?! You could have gotten yourself killed! You could have taken out the power of the entire city—"

Tony paced back and forth as Stephan healed Avery's wounds. He'd never been this angry at her, but she didn't care.

"I found her…" Avery said, interrupting whatever it was Tony was yelling about.

He stopped and looked at her.

"What?"

Avery smiled, the tears came back to her eyes, "I found my sister!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Reunited…**

Avery had been confined to her quarters.

Meals were brought in and taken out by an robot version of Friday. No one was to enter or speak to her. A force field had been put in place that prevented her from using her powers. She paced back and forth like a caged animal.

"TONY!"

She yelled at the cameras that followed her every move. Tony turned off the microphones once she started swearing at him again.

"We can't keep her locked in there, Stark." Stephan said as he also turned away from the screens. The rest of the team was gathered and they sat in silence as Tony paced about as well.

"We're punishing her for trying to find her family," Natasha said, "We should be trying to help her."

"She could also be opening up portals to places we've never heard of and letting in dangerous aliens and beings." Said Bruce.

"If we try to help her," said Clint, "She'll be less likely to act out again."

"We're talking about her like she's a child," Steve said, he stood up and looked at everyone, "She's a person who's lost everything and just found a glimmer of hope! We should do something. What are we afraid of?"

"She could have killed herself," Tony said. Before Steve could say anything he went on, "I know what she's feeling. I've been in her position. You weren't there, you didn't see what she was doing to herself. She practically fried herself alive. She's willing to push herself to death to get what she wants. To make things right. She's dangerous…to herself."

"We're not in the position to judge her…" said Steve. "We can't make that choice."

"If we let her go," started Tony, "She will go down a self destructive path. And we will be held responsible for that."

A storm had gathered outside.

The sky turned black. Not dark. Not gray. No. It was black.

"Is that a sign of Thor's?" asked Clint as he walked toward the floor to ceiling windows.

Down on the streets, the people outside stopped what they were doing and stared up. A silent funnel began to slowly move down to the ground.

"What the hell is that?" Tony asked.

Avery had stopped pacing her room and looked out her window to watch the anomaly. Her eyes widened as bright lights started spinning around in the funnel. Blue, green, white, purple…it looked like a universe. A very, small, universe. And within minutes, it was gone.

"Strange, Cap, go check that out." said Tony.

The two had to push their way through the crowd that had gathered. Everyone was in awe of the two people who stood in the center of the road and looked around at the world they had arrived in.

"Make way!" Steve called.

They parted like the red sea as soon as he and Stephan arrived.

Finally, the could see the new arrivals.

A tall dark skinned man with a thick black beard over his face. He wore beautiful robes of silver, purple, and gold. He had bright green eyes. The young woman beside him resembled Avery very closely. Except her hair was jet black and loosely curled and she missing an arm.

"What planet is this?" asked the man to Stephan.

"Earth."

The man looked over at the young woman who nodded vigorously.

"We look for the one who goes by the name, Avery Chay." Said the man.

"We know her," said Stephan. "Do you come in peace?"

The man stepped toward Stephan and looked him up and down, sizing him up. He narrowed his eyes before he spoke, "Only if she lives."

* * *

Tony sat with Janus and his daughter Margo. From what he could tell, they were peaceful. He didn't let anyone else in the room. He didn't want to overwhelm the two. Steve had been sent to get Avery, but Tony told everyone to watch from the two way mirror. He needed to give these two the all clear first.

Janus spoke about the planet that they came from, Elar. It was similar to Earth, almost identical except with more flora and fauna. Less cities.

"There are twenty major cities on, Elar…" Janus said as he walked about the room, admiring Tony's collection of art. "Ours is the capital, Quintas. My wife is the reigning monarch. She is ill and could not make the trip with us."

"You travelled all the way here, to this exact spot, in search of Avery?" Tony asked, "Who is she to you?"

"Can you not tell?" asked Janus. Tony shook his head and Janus smiled affectionately. "She is the long lost heiress to the Kingdom."

"I'm sorry what?" Tony stood up now, "Avery is…is a…an alien princess?"

"Alien is such a strange term of yours…" Janus said. "She is not of this world, if that is what you mean."

"How?" asked Tony.

Janus sat back down and folded his hands. Margo rubbed her father's back to comfort him. He didn't look at her. His body tensed.

"He doesn't like to talk about it," Margo said, "And it's none of your business."

"Then how I can know you're telling the truth?" Tony asked.

"She was stolen from me." Janus said. Margo sighed, wishing her father wouldn't put himself through this. "The castle was raided. A clan, that is no longer existent, attacked us. They fought a weak battle in the courtyard, and it didn't take my guards long before they realized it was all a distraction. Avery was just a child. Margo had just been born. Avery tried to hide with her but they found them. They kidnapped my daughters and fled. I spent the next ten Earth years in search of my girls. I gave up. That was until a patrol from the desert brought a wounded child to the city hospital…" He took Margo's one hand and squeezed it, "And I was given hope again. Her mother was overjoyed. I knew this was my child."

Tony felt as if he were sincere. He could see the emotion in this man's eyes. But there was just something he didn't trust.

"Do you remember what Avery looks like?" Tony asked.

Janus looked up at him as if he was disgusted by what Tony said, "Not know what my own daughter looks like?"

"It's been a long time." Said Tony.

Margo squeezed her father's hand and it took him a few moments to get get his thoughts clear. "She has her mother's skin. Red and gold undertones. Not dark and blue like mine or Margo's. Avery has dark hair. In the bright sunlight it has brown and red in it. It was never truly black, but I swore on rainy days or when she threw a tantrum, that girl's hair and eyes would turn as black as coal. When she pouted she tucked her lips in and furrowed her brows. I could never truly take her seriously. She has a birth mark on her stomach. Her mother called it, her second heart…"

The doors to the room opened up and Avery walked in, eyes wide, heart racing and near the brink of tears. Janus stood but Margo ran over to her sister and hugged her. Avery broke down in tears and she and her sister fell to their knees and hugged one another.

Steve tapped Tony on the shoulder, "Let's give them some privacy."

* * *

Hours had passed and everyone waited in the lounge area. Natasha sipped on some whisky, Steve tried to read a book, and Clint had left for the night to visit his family.

"So…" said Bruce as he and Stephan entered the room. "She's an alien."

"Honestly not surprising," said Stephan, "Considering our present company. A super soldier, an assassin, a green rage monster, a sorcerer, and right…a God."

"Was anyone else paying attention to her dad, when he said they all have similar abilities on their planet?" Natasha asked.

"Not all of them," said Steve, he shut his book now, "He said just those of…"

"Royal blood." said Stephan, "Sounds incestuous to me. But it makes sense. Avery was able to surpass me in nearly everything I taught her. She was naturally gifted. Her people must be highly sensitive to the energy of the worlds around them. The thicker the energy, the stronger they are."

"You think she's going to leave?" Bruce asked.

A silence fell over the room. Natasha looked at Steve who had a solemn expression. It was no secret that over Avery's time with them, he had grown particularly close to her. Tony treated her like she was his daughter and Stephan enjoyed having someone else to practice magic with. Natasha was fond of Avery, but she wouldn't be as impacted by her loss as some of the men.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see." Said Steve.

They didn't have to wait long.

Avery and Tony walked in and she tucked her hands into her pockets and tried to find the words to say.

"So they want me to go back to Elar with them…" she started. Steve looked down at his shoes. "I'm gonna meet my real mom."

"That's so great." Natasha said as she stood up and hugged Avery.

"They invited a few of us to tag along to see the world. Be ambassadors for Earth," Tony announced, "Cap, Doc, I've chosen you."

"What?" Steve looked up at them and saw Avery smiling. "Why go along?"

"It's more of a thank you for harboring my missing child of the past twenty years, so sort of thing," Tony said with a shrug, he smirked. "Besides, Avery doesn't want to go alone to her home world for the first time."

"A visit would be nice." She said.

"A visit?" asked Bruce, he grinned, "Does that mean…"

"It means, Earth is my primary home," said Avery, "But it'll also be nice getting to know where I came from. My sis knows the place. She's the official crowned heir. I don't need to rule over a place. I mean jeeze, look at me. Do you think I'd make a good princess?"

Everyone laughed with her, but it wasn't at her joke. It was to express their relief. A relaxing laugh. A happy laugh. A, I'm so happy you're not leaving us, laugh.

Avery looked from Tony to Steve to Stephan."I know I've been a wild card, and I did a lot of things I shouldn't have. You guys stood by me. I'm not gonna ditch you yet."

"Well then," said Stephan, "Let's get packing."


	7. Brain Dead --

It's been months since I've published a chapter and I'm so, so, so, so, sorry! I was honestly just writing this as the ideas came to me and now I don't know where to take the story! I did just see the new Spider-Man movie, which is AWESOME and it gave me an idea for a new series. So I hope you guys can forgive me while these stories go under construction. I promise you won't regret it! Avery will return...soon-ish.


End file.
